


In the Hands of the Goblins

by Altiria



Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cave-In, Collars, F/M, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Imprisonment, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26764138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altiria/pseuds/Altiria
Summary: Trapped deep within Gringott’s Holly is less than surprised to discover the dragon - it’s not the first she’d come across either. Zeno is however the first one that communicates with her in English, and though his memories are shot, Zeno has no trouble deciding Holly is the regeneration of his dead mate. Nor does Zeno have any trouble in decided he’s going to follow Holly around like a lost puppy, even though he’s a full-sized dragon.
Relationships: Zeno (Akatsuki no yona)/Harry Potter
Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946422
Comments: 7
Kudos: 154
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	In the Hands of the Goblins

**Author's Note:**

> For this one, I picked a rather lesser-known character from an anime I rather enjoyed a few years ago. Zeno! From Yona of the dawn. In the anime Zeno wasn’t shown much but he’s quite present in the Manga and I adored him!

Gringott's was ridiculous. It was an endless maze of traps, caves, and chaos, and it put the 'maze' of Holly's fourth year to utter shame. Clearly, the goblins knew how to build a maze where Hagrid did not, a shame really, considering she was trapped in it. 

Holly had been previously with Ron and Hermione. They'd been running blindly from the goblins with the cup in hand, and an imperio'd goblin leading them from his kin. And then the floor dropped out from underneath them all. Holly had been thrown onto a near-endless slide, separated from her friends, and dumped into pitch-black darkness. While she'd managed to keep hold of the cup in the fall, Holly also quickly realized she was utterly, completely, wholly… lost. Now, hours later, she was left wandering and hoping for the best. 

On the upside, as a witch, Holly wouldn't starve or die of dehydration; she could conjure the latter and had a bottomless bag of the former. Oxygen likewise was permeating the cave system so she couldn't suffocate either. But that was the end to her advantages. Because whatever the goblins did, they made any scrying or location spells utterly useless. So, it was wander and hope for the best… for the rest of eternity, while holding a Horcrux that she couldn't destroy since Ron had the sword.

"Argh!" 

Holly stomped her foot as she rounded around a corner as she saw the same thing she'd been for the last hours. Identical walls, stalagmites, stalactites, endless darkness pierced by a light-charm, and bones. Holly suspected the bones were people who'd gotten lost. Well, Holly suspected the legend of the minotaur within Gringott's wasn't really a myth. Merlin, she hoped she didn't run into it, but with her luck…

"I'll probably find both the minotaur and a cave troll," she stomped on, wondering if she was going to die with the blood cup in hand. Voldemort would be thrilled. He'd lose her as a Horcrux, but the cup would be eternally lost within Gringott's caves; he'd be utterly immortal. Holly rounded another corner, grumbling to herself- and froze when she spotted a golden glitter at the end of her line of sight. Standing still, barely allowing herself to breathe, Holly directed her light upward slightly and saw a clawed foot. 

"No. No. No." Holly took a step back because she'd been wrong; she hadn't found a minotaur, she'd found a dragon!

The foot shifted; it scraped across the ground. Holly watched it turn, move to follow her light- she nearly doused the spell, only to realize she'd be left in the dark, and she was certain the dragon could see better than her. Instead, Holly lifted the light higher and revealed the creature in its entirety. 

It resembled a Chinese fireball, an elongated body without the wings Holly knew existed on the European version of dragons. It had four smaller clawed legs, all four were limp at its sides, unused. It had a set of wavy horns that stretched out beyond its head and equally long whiskers at the side of its head. And as the light hit its body, Holly watched the scales beneath its body shine oddly. The thing was filthy, coated in a layer of dirt and blood, so think that she could scarcely make out its colourings. It was only as it scraped its arms across the ground that Holly really realized the dragon was actually gold, rather than brown. 

Bleary golden eyes blinked at Holly as the dragon fully turned toward her and the light. Its eyes were squinted, unused to the light, but it was trying to focus regardless. From a distance, it seemed fascinated with her, and even as it looked to her, the dragon made no move to attack. It was quite unlike the pale white version outside Bellatrix's vault. But then, this one was imprisoned much deeper than the other. And… it was a Chinese fireball, that meant it was more serpentine than the other dragon's Holly had met. Which meant… she may be able to reason with this one. 

This could be her key to escaping the prison. If she could work with the dragon, she could find a method of escape for them both. 

She just had to get it to agree. 

Holly took a step forward, sured up her spine and clutched tight to her Gryffindor courage. Getting a bit closer had Holly realizing the dragon was more of a prisoner than she was, thick shackles were attached to its legs. A collar was wrapped tight around its neck. Chains were attached to each of those and reached up into the roof system pinning the beast in place. Holly followed the chains with her eyes; they were firmly attached by thick metal poles though she could make out great groves in the wall, done with claws. The dragon must have tried to escape on occasion. 

Okay. 

Holly stopped nearby the dragon as it continued to observe her with an odd amount of emotion in its eyes. It looked almost… stunned, mixed with a surprising amount of fondness? Holly avoided eye-contact a moment to scan its body again; it was oddly free of injuries, quite unlike the pale dragon from floors above. Holly paid that little mind. 

"Hello… no." She made a face, snake, she had to think like a snake. She'd need parseltongue for this-

"Ka…ya?" 

That was not parseltongue. Holly shot the dragon a surprised look even as the name resonated oddly within her. "Err, no. I'm Holly." She moved closer, wary of its snapping jaws, but the thing didn't move. "and I… I'd like your help, so we can both escape here." 

The eye closed, and its body shifted. Holly gasped in slight horror as the movement cause it to impale itself on one of the rocks poking out from the roof. She gasped, grabbing for its snout to stop it. "Don't move! You'll hurt yourself-"

"…Z… e?" It froze, looking desperate, "forgot… what's name?" it looked at her like she should know. She gasped a bit, and her hesitation caused something frantic to enter it as it twisted violently, blood spewing everywhere. 

"Calm down!" she begged.

"Forgot… forgot… lost name… lost it!" It shrieked. The dragon thrashed even as Holly clutched its snout. The dragon kept its head still with her grip, but it moved the rest of its body like a fireman's hose, swinging brutally and causing its body to crack against the walls. Holly winced as it impaled itself on protruding rocks and blood splattered.

Desperate, Holly yelled: "I'll help you find it!" she rushed to say, and it stilled, "I'll help you find your name again, but you have to calm down, you'll hurt yourself!" 

It tilted eyes staring her down before saying clearly: "can't be hurt… heals too fast." At that, Holly made a face and shot a look at its body drenched in blood… but no wounds… what?!

"You healed." She realized, then shook her head, "but it still hurts, doesn't it!? So let's get you out without hurting yourself, and then we can escape together, okay?" 

Holly stared him down until he nodded with an odd amount of fondness in his eyes. The dragon's body settled, it stilled no longer hurting itself on the rocks and allowed Holly to regain her breath. "…okay." He agreed, and Holly relaxed further. 

With hands secure on the dragon's snout, she no longer feared getting eaten. Holly debated her options as the dragon observed her. "I've been wandering for days, so that won't work." Holly bit her lip, "maybe we could blast out from the ceiling if I used magic to break it out, and you flew… or we could try a path." She eyed the small caves that she alone could walk freely through, "I'd have to shrink you though… how'd they even get you in here?" 

"Was human then," he answered for her, "made to change back into a dragon." 

Holly made a face tilting her head as she tried to picture the dragon as a human. She hadn't known dragons could do that… did Charlie? "can you change back?" 

He shook his head and twisted it so she could see and reach his neck. The collar that sat there was much clearer with how close she'd gotten. Holly was able to make out runes into the metal. Holly hummed and leaned forward, wanting to see if there was an opening. The dragon sensed her intentions and twisted more to grant her better access. When she was still a bit too far, the dragon moved his front leg and gave her a bit of boost, trusting her an odd amount with access to his vulnerable neck. Holly shot him a thankful and surprised look, then she refocused, inspecting the collar for a key-hole or break. 

"Must be goblin made," Holly ran her fingers along the metal, moved all around his neck while avoiding his horns, "there's no opening…" How was she supposed to get him free? Holly leaned back, and he returned her safely to the ground. "I can try and shrink you, then we can try the tunnels. Or, we can try going up and chance getting buried alive." By this point, she was leaning for the latter; wandering the halls had gotten her nowhere.

"This one has already been buried alive. This one thinks Kaya should try the roof," 

"It's Holly." She corrected again and looked upward. He seemed to agree with her then. Up, straight through the next level floor, was probably their best bet. It was definitely hers with the dragon to cover her from falling rocks—especially a dragon who could heal that quickly. A straight path upward would have to be better than helplessly wandering.

"Up, we should go up." The dragon repeated, and Holly decided she agreed.

"Alright then, can I see your legs?" The dragon shifted, offering her his front leg again. Holly inspected the shackles nodding to herself; they were runic like the collar. She could break these. "Okay, hold still, I'm breaking you free, Zeno." 

"Zeno…?" 

Holly directed her wand to the metal at his front paw and nodded, "you said it when trying to remember your name, so… it probably starts with a 'Z,' so… I'll call you that for now." She flicked her wand firmly, and a spell shot out, causing the metal to shatter. The brittle and rather old shackles crumbled under her magic and freed Zeno's first leg. "And Zeno… fits, in a strange way. Other leg, please." 

Zeno shifted and presented her with his left leg, and Holly repeated the process for all his limbs. She broken him free, then asked him to boost her back toward his neck. There, she attempted to break the collar as well… and the spell rebounded violently. Zeno was quick to react; he twisted on the spot, twirled his body despite the chain still attached to his neck to yank her out of the rebounding spell path. Holly ended up cradled in his claws as her spell struck the walls with an almighty boom. 

Rocks fell from the sound, and Zeno shifted her until she was under him. His body jerked several times at rocks dropped onto his body, but Zeno seemed unperturbed. He was relatively unbothered as he slowly released her when the chaos ended. 

"Okay, so, I'll need to check the runes before I try that again." Holly figured, "I'll just break the chain instead for now." 

"Be careful," Zeno requested as he boosted her up once more to give her access to his neck and the chain attached to his collar. Holly shattered it easily, thankful runes hadn't been placed along the entire line. If it had, she would have had to remain for an unknown amount of time to figure out the runes. It would have taken a while, she knew nothing about runes beyond how to recognize them. 

"Okay, now… up." She looked at the roof, "are you ready?" 

"Zeno is ready," he tilted his head oddly, then a grin stretched across his maw, "Zeno's name is Zeno, Ka- Holly is most smart." 

She frowned at him, then nodded: "I'm glad then," in Zeno's claws, Holly pointed her wand up, "if you get buried… just wait, okay? I'll get you out, I promise."

Zeno's eyes lit on hers, and he nodded once, his whole body shifting with the force of it, "Zeno will wait for Holly to save him." 

Holly grinned with false confidence, then, she looked up, breathed deep, and cast a powerful blasting curse.

And the roof collapsed toward them. 


End file.
